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In 2008 reporters watched Taiwan's local television long into the night to see whether anyone would pull a gun before the year’s presidential election. We remembered 2004, when someone shot and hurt then-president Chen Shui-bian a day before the vote that got him reelected. This past Saturday Taiwanese elected an opposition party president who will come in with a new slate of policies. Over the nine-month campaign, no one used guns or battled armed police. We got little word of property damage or even activists blocking streets after permitted hours.

The campaign that began in April and ended Saturday with the election of Tsai Ing-wen as president marks a rare orderly political change. That means the 30-year democracy can finally keep stable despite big shifts and divided public opinion. "The orderliness is just another reassuring sign of Taiwan's maturing democracy," says Sean King, senior vice president with consulting firm Park Strategies in New York and Taipei.

Democratic Progressive Party supporters cheer at DPP headquarter on January 16, 2016 in Taipei. (Photo by Ashley Pon/Getty Images)

Mass political events as late as 2014 dispersed only after holdouts camped in the streets or damaged property, inevitably scuffling with police. Those conclusions were particularly common in 2008 when President Ma Ying-jeou’s government allowed the first formal visit from a negotiator representing long-time enemy China. Protesters also battled police then. In 2010, someone shot and killed a man at a city council campaign event near Taipei.

Over the 2015-2016 campaign, the major rallies ended on schedule for the two top candidates. Organizers worked out rally venues that kept open major streets for people who needed to get around town. I was barred from one Taipei rally because I had chosen the wrong street to get in and was steered toward a legally approved route. Annoying for me but good for thousands of cars. During mass protests in 2014 against the government’s China policies, a lot of Taipei people criticized a 24-day sit-in near parliament for occupying city streets.

At a 160,000-person rally for losing candidate Eric Chu this month, you could hear people saying “it’s over? OK, time to leave.” A safety purist would still point to stampede risk due to the density of moving people, but at least campaign enthusiasts followed the posted rules.

What changed? One thing, violence at earlier political events ultimately upset voters despite its intention to sway them. Some still think the Chen Shui-bian shooting was a sympathy ploy. Another change: Police have added to their ranks at mass political events since the violent 2008 protests against Chinese negotiator Chen Yunlin. Sometimes you see more men in blue with riot shields than protesters. And Tsai’s victory this month had been forecast in polls since she declared in April, eliminating suspense that might have led to more extreme tactics.

Taiwanese people prefer not to test legal limits anyway, says George Tsai, a retired political science professor in Taipei. “Usually we don’t go to the extremes -- that’s why Taiwan has no terrorist movement,” he says.